My Hawaiian Wedding…Jersey Style
by luvsbitca
Summary: It's three weeks out from the wedding of the everyone in Five-0 has been waiting for. Danny's family is on their way. Doris is meeting Danny's mum and by the end of this they'll be married. Come along for the ride. Sequel To – McGarretts Say It Better (Or Awkward Mother-Son-Danny Conversations)
1. Nosy

**Title – **My Hawaiian Wedding…Jersey Style  
**Sequel To – **McGarretts Say It Better (Or Awkward Mother-Son-Danny Conversations)  
**Author – **Moonbeam  
**Summary – **It's three weeks out from the wedding of the everyone in Five-0 has been waiting for. Danny's family is on their way. Doris is meeting Danny's mum and by the end of this they'll be married. Come along for the ride.  
**Spoilers – **End of season 3, the whole story takes place between s03e22 and s03e23.  
**Rating – **Mature (M) because they keep deciding to _snuggle_ when I'm not looking.  
**Disclaimer – **I don't own anything.  
**Author's Notes – **Through chance and, I like to think some encouragement from me, my friend has been watching H50 for the first time and I've been enjoying experiencing it with her. It's got my butt in gear to write this. It'll be another slow writing process but don't give up on me I always come back to this series. It's my favourite.

**My Hawaiian Wedding…Jersey Style**  
by Moonbeam

**/ Nosy \\\\\**

Danny walked out of the psych's office and spotted Steve reclining back against the hood of his truck trying very hard to look nonchalant. He knew he should be annoyed – he had very specifically told Steve to stay at Five-0 until he came back after the session. He wasn't overly surprised that the other man had ignored him though. Steve didn't need to know that yet however.

"Hello, Steven." Danny said.

Steve immediately straightened, almost snapping to attention. "You're done already?"

Danny made a face at him. "You are not supposed to be here. I said I'd come back to headquarters when I was done."

Steve dropped his head awkwardly.

"Steven?"

Steve shrugged.

"Steven?"

"We haven't got a case," Steve said with a shrug, not looking at Danny. The blond had an inkling of what had happened. "…so we could just go straight home instead." Danny knew he was right – Steve must have annoyed Kono and Chin so badly that they'd told him to leave them alone. Steve would have, of course, interpreted that as – go and spy on Danny. "Maybe have a swim, cook something for dinner."

"You are such a bad liar and a beautiful dork."

Steve frowned at him, eyes flicking back up to Danny's face.

"They kicked you out of headquarters, didn't they?"

Steve shrugged defensively.

"And you came down here because you're worried about me, so badly that Chin and Kono couldn't stand you anymore."

Steve folded his arms across his chest.

"Come on, I'll go swimming with you and tell you all about it."

Steve immediately smiled at him.

"I'll meet you at home." Danny offered.

Steve's face fell at Danny's words.

Danny threw his hands up into the air. "I'm not leaving my car here tonight just because you're pouting," Danny told him, stepping towards his car.

Steve huffed. "I don't know why you even brought it to work."

"Because I had to come to this appointment, Steve."

"I could have driven you."

"But I wanted to come alone, on my own, to this rather personal and very intense therapy session."

"I don't know why."

"We're not actually attached to one another," Danny said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I can come to an appointment on my own."

"For now," Steve said looking positively smug with himself. "Three weeks."

"Until we're married."

"Same thing."

Danny frowned at Steve. "Not quite."

Steve looked away suspiciously. "I'll meet you at home. Want me to grab some steaks?"

"Nah, I will," Danny said and Steve nodded. He decided not to ask questions about the look – sometimes it was easier to just ignore it until he had to deal with it.

Steve darted forward for a sneak-attack kiss and then jumped into his truck. Danny watched him leave and had to smile. Steve was exactly what he had needed after that session with the psych. He slid into his car and slumped back into the seat. Danny had never found this part easy – talking like he had had to in the office upstairs. And he really hated admitting that he'd fucked up so badly that he needed help like this.

He turned his phone back on and felt it vibrate in his pocket a few too many times. He had to pull himself together to pull it out of his pocket.

_Steve was bugging the crap out of us. Sorry brah. Kono_.

Danny smiled and he couldn't even be mad at her for kicking Steve out and towards him. He probably would have done something similar if he'd had to deal with Steve – the big old, insane marshmallow. He took a deep breath and started the car, Steve would send out HPD if he was late. He stopped and bought them steak and vegetables for grilling on the barbecue before he drove the long way home, windows down in the Camaro as he tried not to think about the session he'd just had.

When he turned into their driveway his phone beeped and he knew it was Steve wondering where he was. He walked up to the door and saw Steve pacing in the living room.

"Babe," Danny said quietly, as he reached for the door handle. Steve turned and yanked the door open. "Steve?"

"Where were you?"

Danny held up the bag in his hand, one of those reusable ones Grace had insisted he buy, and smiled. "Steak and vegetables."

"And after that?"

"I drove home the long way."

"Why?"

"It's been a long day."

"Yes, I know and you were supposed to come back here and talk about it with me."

"And here I am," Danny said frowning, "let's change and go for a swim."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest.

"Babe, I just needed some time."

Steve nodded and turned around to stalk towards the stairs. Danny watched the tense line of his shoulders for a few minutes and then he dumped the food in the fridge and followed.

"Steve," Danny started when he walked into the bedroom, "you're overreacting."

Steve nodded and yanked on his board shorts.

"Steve."

"I know," Steve said quietly. "I know, okay? Let's just go for a swim."

"What's wrong?"

Steve threw Danny's shorts at him.

"There is something wrong with you; you do understand that, don't you? It's not normal that you would feel more secure swimming in the ocean than talking to me in our bedroom."

"I like the water."

"You like the water? You _like_ the water?"

"Yeah."

Danny sighed and threw his clothes in the basket in the corner. "Okay, let's go and swim so you can tell me what the hell is wrong with you."

"There is nothing wrong with me."

Danny threw his arms out wide and looked around the bedroom. "Then what is this?"

"This is us going for a swim."

Danny wanted to scream. He wanted to walk over and shake Steve until the other man answered a question straightforwardly.

Steve stared at Danny until the other man pulled on his swimming shorts and turned to walk out of the room. Danny felt Steve close at his back as he walked down the stairs and out through the laundry. Danny watched Steve as the brunette overtook him and trotted down towards the water. Danny kept up with him and refrained from complaining about the pace Steve made with his unreasonably long legs. He wondered, as the first splashes of cold, salty water hit his calves, why he couldn't have just gone back to Five-0, collected Steve like he planned, and then gone upstairs and put those stupid, long legs to better use for distraction. He followed Steve farther out to sea and shook his head as the other man's shoulders relaxed as the water rose higher.

"Steven," Danny said, as the water hit his pectorals. "I am not going any further."

Steve turned around and nodded. "Okay."

Danny expected him to say more but the other man just ducked under the water and swam around in a circle before he popped back up.

"I don't appreciate the fact you're lying to me," Steve said.

Danny gaped at him. "I'm not lying to you, what am I lying to you about? I have no secrets – we live together, we work together, we're getting married in three weeks, and you won't even let me drive my own car."

"Exactly."

"I do not understand a word you are saying to me right now, babe. I am not lying. What secrets could I possibly have?"

Steve made a face.

"Okay, is this about the therapy? Because therapy traditionally is a solitary activity. Unless it's couples therapy and that's a completely different conversation but I'm happy to go to couples therapy if you'd like."

"Why didn't you tell me about the meetings you've been having with Rachel?"

Danny stared at Steve dumbfounded. "You know about them."

"Yes, I know about them! Why did you tell me about them?"

"I did tell you about them."

"No I didn't. Until I came home tonight and answered the phone, I knew nothing about them. She seemed very surprised that I didn't know you'd been over there three times this week."

"Babe, you knew about this. We're taking Grace on our honeymoon. I've been talking to her about that. You knew."

"I did not," Steve repeated.

"Steven, are we taking my daughter to New Zealand in just under four weeks?"

"Yes."

"Do I share custody with my ex-wife who is still very annoyed that she had to stay in Hawaii instead of going to Las Vegas?"

"Yes."

"And even more displeased that we are now suing her for a fifty-fifty custody agreement?"

"Yes."

"And is she making me jump through hoops to keep on her good side so that she doesn't change her mind?"

"She can't!" Steve said emphatically, stalking back towards Danny.

"No, it would reflect very badly on her when we come to the custody hearing but I'm just doing what I have to do. I told you I was going over there on Monday after work. She wants a full itinerary which is completely fair and she's had a heap of questions so I went there after I picked Gracie up from school on Wednesday. Which…now that I think about it, I didn't tell you about."

"She said she'd seen you every night this week."

"Not quite."

"And you never told me about these meetings."

Danny slapped himself on the forehead and sprayed them both with water. "I thought I did."

Steve deflated in front of him.

Danny froze and looked around him and then pulled Steve into a kiss.

"What?" Steve asked.

"I love you, and I find it very sweet that you dragged me into the ocean to accuse me of cheating on you."

Steve froze. "I didn't think you were cheating on me."

"Then what was all that about?"

"You lying to me."

Danny shook his head and wished he was sitting down. "You didn't think I was cheating on you?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"That was a hell of a reaction for me lying to you then."

"I don't want you to start lying and pulling away from me when we're about to get married."

Danny left like a metaphorical lightbulb was going off over his head. He smiled ruefully. "Babe, do you want to hear what happened at the therapy session?"

"Yes."

"The shrink and I talked about what happened on that case for most of the session."

"What did she say?"

"Can we go up and sit down instead? I do understand that you feel that the sea is your safe place but this is weird for me."

"We haven't even swum."

Danny smiled. "After."

"Okay," Steve said, grabbing Danny's hand and walking them both out of the water.

Danny wrapped himself in a towel and sat facing Steve. "She asked me why I'd done what I did. I found the whole thing uncomfortable but it was good to talk about it with a stranger."

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't know me and she isn't worried about my feelings or justification. She's just there to help."

"I'm here to help."

Danny smiled at Steve warmly. "I know, babe, but you're also trying to make me feel better."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"We are not having this argument again. We talked a bit about my previous issues with anger management and what I had done to help deal with it in the past and why it's not working for me now. And that was about it. I'm going back next week."

"Why?"

"To work through this whole thing and work out how to deal with my anger so I never assault another person like that. It's been getting worse and it's not just that; it's the negativity as well. I don't want to go into our marriage with all that baggage so I'm going to follow through with this until I am feeling better. For me, but also for you and Gracie."

"Danny…"

"I think this will be good for me. I don't want Gracie to think that anger and negativity are okay, that they are an acceptable way of living your life. I just want to be better for her and for you. But I never want to hate myself like I did after that case again."

Steve made a face at him that Danny couldn't classify and then he leaned forward and kissed Danny. "We should go swimming."

"I think we need to talk more about this Rachel thing."

"No. You thought you told me, it's all fine."

Danny threw his hands up in the air. "I'm going to see her tomorrow to discuss the schedule for the wedding. Do you want to come?"

"No."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You're a terrible liar."

"What time?" Steve asked, standing up.

"Six."

"I'll drive."

"Of course you will, Neanderthal."

Steve grabbed Danny's wrist and started walking them towards the water. He stopped when the water was lapping their feet. "You looked upset when you came out of the psych's office."

"It's draining and depressing and so fucking hard, Steve. It is upsetting."

"Next time I'm driving you and then you can relax."

"No, next time I'll drive myself."

Steve shook his head. "Chin isn't going to let me stay in the office next time."

Danny laughed and pulled Steve into the water.

**/**

I've been sitting on this chapter for a little while because I didn't want to start the story on this note but my muse is ADAMANT that this was the right way to start. So here we go…


	2. Bonbonnieres

I finally finished season 4 this afternoon and I'm finally enjoying the show again and I'm having _ideas_ about the story after this one. Why, oh why, did no one tell me that Danny and Steve started just saying I love you as they left the room. Seriously...

**/ Bonbonnieres \\\\\**

Danny walked out of his office and into Steve's. "I was thinking, babe."

"So that's why I could smell smoke."

Danny shook his head. "Very mature, Steven."

"What were you thinking about?"

"We haven't discussed guest gifts."

"What?"

"You know – that thing you give to a guest when they leave the wedding."

Steve frowned at him.

"You have been to a wedding, Steve, you have to remember. We got them at Chin's wedding."

Steve grinned widely. "If I remember correctly at Chin's wedding I got a few really good orgasms and you in my bed."

"It was my bed."

Steve shrugged. "Whose place did we always sleep after that?"

"Yours; because your delicate head might be comfortable resting on rocks in the middle of the desert and seaweed during BUDs but heaven forbid you slept at my place while we were dating."

Steve shook his head. "You lived in a pit."

"The _desert_, Steven!"

"I'm not letting anyone else have sex with you for a guest gift."

Danny started laughing and had to reach out for the door frame to stop himself from dropping to the ground.

"Oh, man," Kono called out from behind him. "It's official, brah, Steve's finally made Danny lose his mind."

Danny couldn't argue with her while he continued laughing.

"What's going on?" Chin asked.

"Danny came in asking about guest gifts for the wedding," Steve said, voice dripping with confusion.

"You haven't organised that yet?" Chin asked with surprise.

Steve shrugged, watching Danny.

"Oh, Chin, do you remember Gin's wedding? She married a guy from Italy and they had these almonds coated in sugar, they were the best."

"We gave everyone a bottle of wine," Chin told Steve. "You left before taking yours."

Danny was able to control himself enough to respond to this. "That's the problem. Now Steve thinks we have to give everyone amazing orgasms as a guest gift."

"I said really good," Steve corrected.

"Are you sure, because I keep hearing you say awesome?"

Kono bit her lip and shook her head at both of them. "Something to work on during the honeymoon?"

"We're going on honeymoon to sightsee," Danny pointed out. "It's not a sex trip."

Kono shook her head at him. "I think your priorities are skewed."

"You mean the opportunity to take my daughter on a wonderful holiday to a country she hasn't been to before? You're right, I have terrible priorities."

Kono nodded. "Exactly."

Steve shrugged. "We have plenty of sex."

"Oh my God," Danny threw his hands up into the air. "I came in here to ask you about giving our guests something and now we're discussing our sex life with our work mates? This is not what I expected."

"I'm okay with this line of conversation," Kono said, resting back against the wall.

"No," Danny said. "Steven, we will talk about bonbonnieres later."

Danny turned and walked out of the room.

"This isn't over, Danny," Kono called out after him.

Danny couldn't help but smile as he went back to his office and settled in to doing his work. Before he did, he pulled his phone out and crossed bonbonnieres off the list.

Later that night, when Grace had finished her homework and they were sitting at the table, Steve put his fork down and looked at Danny. "What would people normally give as bonbonnieres?"

"Sugared almonds!" Grace yelled out.

Danny laughed. "Monkey, while we appreciate your opinion on the wedding I would prefer it a little quieter."

Grace nodded and dropped her head. "'course, Danno, sorry."

"I've never had sugared almonds," Steve told them.

"They are the best," Grace told him.

"We have a number of options," Danny said. "We could have a look on the 'net later."

Grace turned to Steve and pouted. "Are you sure you don't want candied almonds?"

"Grace Williams, do not try and pull that on Steve."

Grace nodded and returned to her pasta.

"We should buy some candied almonds as well," Steve said, smiling at Grace.

"You are much too easy for a big, bad Navy SEAL."

Steve shrugged.

As soon as the dishes were done, Grace rushed into the other room and grabbed her laptop. Then she settled between them on the couch.

"What options do we have?" Danny asked.

"I have been working on a Pinterest board with Nana and Great-Nana," Grace said, opening up a browser.

"A what?"

"Pinterest," Grace said, bringing up a board called _McDanno's Wedding_.

"What is that and who is McDanno?" Danny asked.

"We're McDanno," Steve said proudly. "It's a portmanteau."

"What about Stanny or Dave?"

"Those are terrible, Danno," Grace said, Steve nodding behind her.

Danny threw up his hands. "Okay, now, what is Pinterest?"

"It's a site where you create boards that hold all sorts of ideas. I have one for the next time we decorate my room."

Danny's eyebrows shot up.

"We should look into that after we get back from New Zealand," Steve said, voice excited.

"Will we, Steve?" Danny asked, turning to look at the other man.

"Sure, why not?"

"We only finished decorating the house a year ago."

"But things change all the time," Steve said. "And Grace is growing up."

"We are saving this discussion until after the wedding. I spent weeks painting that bed."

"I wouldn't change the bed," Grace told him.

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Danny said. "Now show us this act of collusion between you and Ma."

"Don't forget Great-Nana…oh, and Kono."

"And Kono, _and Kono_," Danny said shaking his head. "You're all mutineers."

"I'll see what Nana has put on here for bonbonnieres," she said, flicking down the page.

They spent more than an hour looking through the boards until well after Grace's bedtime. Danny was horrified by both the sheer amount of unneeded planning that had been happening behind their backs and the possibilities. In the end, he sent Grace up to bed without a decision made about bonbonnieres and they kept the laptop.

"This is ridiculous," Danny said, searching specifically for bonbonnieres as soon as Grace was settled.

"I think it's a great resource."

"Not the site. It's the fact that my mother, grandmother, daughter, and Kono have all been maintaining a very comprehensive board about a wedding that has always been planned as a semi-casual beach wedding."

"It's nice to have options."

"It's three weeks before the wedding. It's too late for options."

"We haven't finished planning everything, obviously," Steve pointed out, slinging an arm over Danny's shoulders.

"No, we haven't," he said, settling the laptop more comfortably so they could both see it.

"What about that?" Steve asked, pointing to an elaborate table covered in large glass vases full of lollies.

"Lollies?"

"Why not?" Steve asked, reaching out and opening the link. "We could just have it out for the whole party, little bags so people can pick what they like and they can eat it as part of the dessert as well, if they want."

"You, Mr SEAL, who refuses to allow me to buy cocoa pops, is advocating lollies for bonbonnieres?"

Steve shrugged, jostling Danny. "Grace will like it."

Danny smiled. "She will."

"And we can put candied almonds in one of the containers."

"We'll need to buy extra; she'll sniff them out and eat them before the wedding."

"She wouldn't do that," Steve defended.

"Oh, babe," Danny said, shaking his head. "You are so blinkered; she isn't nearly as perfect as you think she is."

"Is that supposed to be a problem?"

"You're incorrigible."

"I'm a great many things," Steve pointed out, "and you love them all."

Danny smiled and thought about that list on his phone. "I do, what else do you think we've forgotten for the wedding?"

Steve shrugged. "No idea."

"I bet Ma has a list."

"She'll be here next week."

Danny nodded and yawned, snuggling closer to Steve's hotter body.

"Bed?" Steve asked.

Danny closed the laptop and slid it behind a cushion. "Nah, this is good."

"Do you want to snuggle."

"I want to enjoy the peace and quiet before my family arrives and everything becomes hectic. I want to enjoy getting married."

"It's going to be fun."

"It's going to be a mad house and we will be the puppets that everyone is trying to yank in different directions."

"We're getting married on the beach, we have Grace; everything is going to be fine."

Danny thought about his decision to be more positive and nodded, kissing Steve's neck, the only spot he could reach. "It's going to be amazing because at the end you and I are going to be married and I get to point to you when you doing something ridiculous to catch a bad guy and say – him, the tall, hot, nut job, he's my husband."

"Yep," Steve said, smiling down at Danny goofily.

Danny shook his head and raised his eyes to the sky in silent prayer for strength and patience over the next few weeks.

**/**

Chapters in this will probably be a little shorter but I'm hoping there won't be quite such long gaps. We'll see.


	3. Second Appointment

Yay for holidays!

**/ Second Appointment \\\\\**

Danny looked in the mirror and smiled.

"It's a very handsome suit," the tailor currently double-checking his work said.

"It is."

"Are you sure you don't want a tie?"

"Positive."

"A suit this good deserves a tie."

Danny smiled. "I know, and normally I would be wearing one. But my…I've never felt that comfortable with fiancé – at least not for Steve. Anyway, Steve is a heathen who would be horrified if I married him in a tie so I'm doing this for him.

The tailor smiled. "My good wife Janie asked me to wear a powder blue suit to our wedding. Now, powder blue suits were always heresy in a tailor shop but I love my Janie so I wore a powder blue suit no matter how much ribbing my colleagues gave me."

Danny smiled. "I was worried he was going to suggest we get married in board shorts."

"He didn't though."

"No, thankfully. I think my daughter would have talked him out of it anyway."

Just at that moment the door to the tailor shop opened and a loud, "Danno," filled the shop.

Danny coloured. "And that would be my daughter."

Danny heard Stan tell Grace off for yelling in the store and he smiled down at the tailor.

"I will just let her in," he offered, standing up.

Moments later Grace rushed into the back room and then stopped and looked at Danny. "That's perfect, Danno."

"Thank you, Monkey."

Stan poked his head into the back room. "It is a very nice suit, Daniel."

"Thank you, Stan," Danny said, smiling.

"Not a problem. I'll see you tomorrow, Grace."

"Bye, Stan," she said waving at him. "Danno, where's your tie?"

"I'm not wearing one. You know how much Steve hates ties."

Grace shook her head at him with disappointment.

"Now, I'm getting fashion advice from you too?"

"Of course," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs.

Danny smiled at her. "What do you want to have for dinner tonight?"

"Pizza."

"Okay," Danny watched the tailor adjust the jacket and smooth out the material in the mirror. "You and Steve can buy the stuff while I'm at my appointment tonight."

Grace nodded and the tailor stood up to look at him one last time.

"Yes, I do believe you are ready to go, Mr Williams."

"Thank you."

Danny left the platform and changed back into his work clothes, handing the suit to the tailor with a smile. "You will be able to pick this up next week when we've had a chance to launder and press it."

"Thanks," Danny said holding his hand out to the other man and shaking. "I'll see you next week."

Danny walked Grace down the street, stopping at a shop for ice-cream, and then down to his car.

"Where are you going tonight, Danno?"

"I've got a meeting with my psychologist."

"Why?"

"Because I got very angry at work and had a fight with someone. I don't want to do it again."

Grace nodded. "It wasn't Steve, right?"

"No."

"Okay…or Chin, or Kono, or Max, right?"

"It was a criminal."

"Okay."

"It's not okay, and I don't want to be angry anymore. It's not okay to be angry at people all the time."

"I know."

Danny smiled; he wasn't sure how he got the best kid in the world but he certainly did.

Danny smiled as he walked into the Headquarters.

"Grace," Kono called out, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to distract Steve while Danno is at the psychologist's office."

Danny turned and gaped at his daughter. "Traitor. That is not why you're here."

"I'm also having a sleepover so that Mum and Stan can go to some gala."

"That is why Grace is here."

Kono and Grace shared a look.

"I'm surrounded by traitors," Danny said, throwing his arms up in the air and walking towards Steve's office. "Observant traitors."

Kono laughed behind him as he knocked on Steve's door. The other man was pretending to do paperwork. Danny knew because Steve didn't have that little wrinkle of concentration between his eyebrows. Danny's money was on internet gin rummy.

"Hey, Steve," Danny said walking straight into the room while Steve scurried to hide his computer program. "Gracie's here. She wants pizza for dinner, so can you and her go to the shop and grab the stuff we'll need on the way home?"

Steve frowned at Danny. "You have your next psych appointment today. I was going to take you."

"I know," Danny said with a shrug. "But, Rachel needs us to look after Grace."

"And you're taking advantage of this to distract me."

"Exactly," Danny said, darting forward to kiss Steve. "Do you want me to send her in here to help you win gin rummy?"

Steve flushed and Danny counted it as a win. "Send her in and she can do some homework while I finish this report."

Danny smiled and kissed Steve again. "I'll tell you all about it when Gracie's gone to sleep."

"This is manipulation, Danny."

"I know," Danny said, nodding, "but you get some more Grace-time so it's worth it, right?"

"You're playing dirty."

"Damn straight."

"I am displeased."

"I'll go swimming with you tomorrow to make up for it."

Danny could tell Steve was about to cave.

Grace chose that moment to bounce into Steve's office. "Hey, Steve."

"Hello, Gracie."

"I don't have any homework. Can we go home early and go snorkelling?"

Danny bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything.

Steve nodded and started turning the computer off. "That sounds great."

Danny smiled at them both.

"Surf afternoon," Kono yelled out in the hallway. "See ya later."

Danny knew she'd have disappeared before he made it out of the office. Chin wouldn't be far behind her.

"Excellent, want me to stop for the pizza things instead then?" Danny asked.

"No," Steve said, glaring at him. "We'll do it."

"Bye, babe," Danny said, kissing Steve and then dropping a kiss on Grace's head. "See you soon, Gracie."

"Good luck, Danno."

/\/\/\

Danny walked out of the psych's office and stared down at the sheet in his hand. "And I have homework."

He shook his head and walked out to his car, feeling much less wrung out than he had after the previous session. He still drove home the long way and tried to clear his head. He parked in the driveway and thought about the week before and the conversation he'd had with Steve out in the water. As soon as they had gone back inside Steve had acted as though it had never happened. Danny had taken him to the next meeting with Rachel where they had mapped out exactly when Grace would be with them and when she would be with Rachel. Steve's presence had made Rachel's lips purse but she had made them both tea and discussed the arrangements civilly. Steve had even managed to get Rachel to agree to these plans being final. Danny knew she was happy for him, happy that he had found someone like Steve who Grace loved and would protect their baby girl. He knew that but he also understood that in the end she hated Steve for giving Danny something she'd taken away from him when she'd taken Grace the first time. He had seen it so clearly that day over tea and in that moment he couldn't even dredge up the memory of his anger at Rachel.

Danny pulled himself out of the car and ducked his head out of the outside door. He could see the bright orange of Grace's rashie next to the blue of Steve's. They were still snorkelling so he had a little bit of time. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out everything he would need for their pizza. Between cutting the capsicum and the tomato he pulled out his phone and looked at the list working out what to worry about next. Then he made a phone call. He dropped his phone back into his pocket and whistled some _Four Seasons_ as he finished doing the prep. He heard Grace and Steve come in from outside just as he finished with the onions.

Steve made it into the kitchen first smelling of soap and the ocean.

"How was it?" Steve asked, sidling over to Danny.

"I have homework."

Steve laughed.

"It's not funny, Steve."

"What's the homework?"

"I need to write down everything that annoys me over the next week."

"We'll need a big notebook."

Danny shook his head. "You just want to be the first thing on the list."

Steve kissed Danny. "I'll be the last too."

Danny shook his head. "You have weird priorities."

"Did you make your own dough?"

Danny shook his head. "Not tonight."

"Danno," Grace called out rushing into the kitchen. "We saw a string-ray."

"That is very cool, monkey."

She beamed at him.

"I'm just going to have a shower and then we can eat. Pick a movie, monkey."

"I have _The Wedding Planner_ in my bag."

Danny turned and looked at his daughter. "I know we're getting married soon but we can watch a movie that's not about weddings."

She just smiled at him and Danny knew there was an ulterior motive. He knew it, but he couldn't work out what it was and Steve was making that face where he was about to jump to Grace's defence so he ignored it and turned for the shower.

They watched _The Wedding Planner_ and Danny could see her eyes lighting with glee as she filed things away. He would need to have a word to her and his mother about not overdoing things. If there was ever a woman who would turn a relaxed beach wedding into something that could be in a magazine in less than three weeks it would be his mother.

**/**


	4. Party

**/**** Party \\\\\**

Danny ducked his head into Chin's office and the other man nodded at him. Danny ran over to Kono's door on the balls of his feet. She gave him a thumbs-up so Danny turned and walked towards Steve's office casually. Kono slipped out of the office behind him.

"Hey, babe," he said, pushing the door open. "Want to go and grab some lunch?"

Steve looked up from the file he'd been working on and nodded. "Sure, what are we having?"

Danny shrugged. "Hey, Chin, where are we going?"

"We're going with Chin?" Steve asked, looking put-off.

"Yeah, that's cool, right?" Danny knew it wasn't cool because Steve was making that face he usually made when Danny accidently cock-blocked him. Danny assumed Steve had planned on stopping off at home on the way back from lunch – or had planned to never go to lunch at all. Danny left himself feel wistful over the possibilities for a moment before he shook them off. "Chin said he wanted to take us somewhere _cool_."

Steve nodded. "'course."

"Then get your stuff, Steve."

Steve looked at his paperwork. "Ten minutes?"

Danny nodded; he'd factored in at least fifteen for Steve to finish his work. Danny went back to his office and sent out a mass text before he turned everything off and slipped his wallet and keys into his pocket. He didn't want to take his gun but he couldn't leave it here either, so he slipped it into his holster and walked out of his office.

"Chin, where are we going?" Steve asked, sliding his own gun into his hip holster.

"Place I know by the ocean," Chin told him, walking out of his own office.

"Everything finished, Steve?" Danny asked, cocking his hip against the computer table as casually as possible.

"Yeah? Where's Kono?"

"She thought she'd take advantage of the nice weather and go surfing," Danny said, making sure to inject as much judgement into the comment as possible.

Steve nodded. "We could have gone with her."

Danny shrugged. "You lock down your computer since we're all going to be out of the office?"

Steve turned on the ball of his foot and walked back into his office.

"Be cool, bruddah," Chin said quietly, coming to stand next to Danny.

"I am," Danny hissed back.

Chin just quirked an eyebrow at Danny and judged him silently.

"I'm good to go," Steve told them walking out of his office.

"I'm driving," Danny said, twirling his keys around his finger.

"No, you're not."

"I am," Danny told him, turning for the door. "It's my car and I'm driving."

"Danny is better at following," Chin offered, walking past them both.

"See, even Chin thinks I should get to drive my own car."

"It's almost our car," Steve said, reaching out for the keys.

"Does this mean I'm going to get to drive your car?"

"No."

Danny laughed weakly, ending in a groan. "I do love you."

"I know," Steve said happily.

"That," Danny said, pointing to the spot he'd been standing in a moment earlier. "That was me reminding myself that I love you because you cannot be such a control freak that you are the only one who is allowed to drive because I'm about to marry you, marry you in front of all of our family and friends, and you just told me that I'm never going to drive my own car again."

"It's not that bad."

"Then I'm driving."

Steve shook his head and reached out for the keys again. "I'm a better driver."

"You're a better swimmer, you're a better magnet for trouble, but you are not a better driver."

"I'm so glad I have my own car," Chin said, as he walked out of the building.

"And I bet Malia even lets you drive it," Danny said.

"Leave me out of it," Chin said, walking to his car more quickly.

Danny walked to the driver's side of the car and opened the doors, sliding in without looking at Steve. He smiled to himself when Steve slipped into the car next to him. The easiest way to keep Steve from working out that Danny had a secret was to throw him off guard.

Steve grumbled about why he should be the one driving for the entire trip down to the marina.

"We're here," Danny said, parking next to Chin.

"Where?" Steve asked, looking around. "We're at a marina – there is nowhere to eat here."

Danny shrugged and climbed out of the car, coming to stand next to Chin.

"It's a restaurant boat, best Hawaiian food on the island," Chin offered.

"So long as it isn't the newest endeavour of Kamekona's, I'm happy," Danny threw in, looking around and making sure the car was locked – they wouldn't be coming back to it until much later.

Steve shook his head and started defending Kamekona as they walked towards the long dock. Danny fell into line after Chin and allowed Steve's prattling to chase him down the wooden planks and towards the boat. Chin walked onto the boat and Danny tripped over his left foot going down more heavily on his right knee than he'd meant to. He immediately felt Steve's hands at his ribs steadying him.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, fine," Danny said, standing up. "Just tripped."

Steve looked at him with confusion.

"Come on, babe," Danny said, grabbing his wrist. "We've got lunch to eat."

Steve looped an arm over Danny's shoulder and they walked onto the boat together. Danny stepped on in front of Steve and then pulled the taller man along behind him.

"This doesn't look like a restaurant boat," Steve said, looking around them.

At that moment the door leading below deck opened and a bright-eyed cousin of Chin's walked up. "You're here, brah, everyone's downstairs."

Danny nodded and smiled, heading for the door. Steve followed behind him but Danny could feel how suspicious he was getting. The moment he was through the door he rushed to join the rest of the group and turned just as Steve's head entered the room.

"Surprise!"

Steve froze and looked around the room.

"Happy birthday," Grace said, rushing forward and throwing her arms around Steve.

Steve immediately wrapped his arms around Grace and turned to Danny. "What?"

"Happy birthday," Danny said, walking over and kissing Steve. "This is your party."

Steve looked around the room at all of his friends and family all gathered on the boat. "My birthday's not until Wednesday."

Grace shook her head up at him. "Nana and Pop and everyone are getting in on Thursday morning. So we're having your party now."

Doris pushed her way through the group and stood in front of Steve. "Happy birthday, Steven."

"Thanks, Mum."

Steve seemed to come to himself as Doris walked away and he pulled Danny into a fierce hug.

"You're about to be an old, married couple," Kono called out, "lay off."

Danny shook his head and kissed Steve. "What do you think?"

"I wasn't expecting a party."

"Gracie and I told you we'd give you a party."

Steve shrugged. "I thought you had forgotten with all of the wedding stuff."

"I'm not going to forget your birthday, Steven."

Steve ducked his head and turned quickly, crouching down to look at Grace. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Grace shook her head. "I have the afternoon off because of an Island-wide teacher meeting. Danno and I thought it would be a good chance to surprise you."

"I'm surprised."

"Good surprise, right?"

"Perfect one."

Grace smiled widely and threw her arms around Steve. "We're going to cruise around the islands for the afternoon and then back home for a barbecue."

Steve looked up at Danny and smiled. "Perfect."

"And my family are skyping us at half past six."

Steve looked gobsmacked. "Why?"

"Because you're family," Grace explained without missing a beat.

"Oh," Steve said, his voice sliding into that tone that Danny knew meant he was attempting to deal with emotions that he did not understand.

"Come on," Danny said, clapping him on the back. "We're got a party to enjoy."

Steve nodded and followed him up to the party and throughout the afternoon and night.

When everyone was finally gone, Grace long since asleep in bed, and Chin dragging Malia from the party and home with one hand on her swollen middle, Danny looked around their home and sighed.

"Thank you," Steve said, curling his arms around Danny from where he was standing at his back.

"You had fun?"

"I did," Steve said, kissing the bend of Danny's jaw. "It was a wonderful surprise."

Danny tried to twist around but Steve held him in place. "We need to clean up."

"No, we're going to go out to the beach."

"Why?"

"Because the moon is full tonight."

"So?"

"So," Steve said, beginning to walk them towards the laundry and out of the house. "Down at the beach I have a blanket."

"We often have blankets down on the beach."

Steve kissed a line down Danny's neck. "And on this blanket I have plans to celebrate my birthday with you."

"Is the house locked up?" Danny asked, allowing himself one moment to think of safety.

"I double-checked."

Danny nodded and reached behind him to fondle Steve's backside as they walked down towards the beach.

"How would you like to celebrate your birthday then?" Danny asked, as Steve undid a few buttons on his shirt, spreading the material wide as he mouth began mapping out more of the blond's flesh.

"I would like to practise for our wedding night."

"If you think I'm going to get sand anywhere on our wedding night, you're mistaken."

Steve laughed at his back. "But you'll do it tonight?"

Danny stopped walking, and twisted around, yanking Steve down into a hungry, open-mouthed kiss. "It's your birthday. I will brave sand for you tonight, and tonight only."

"What about Wednesday?"

Danny smirked. "Wednesday is your birthday too, I will put up with sand for you then as well…I suppose."

"Oh, babe," Steve said, doing something complicated that ended with both of them lying on a blanket. "You do love me if you're willing to brave the wretched sand."

Danny rolled his eyes, hitched his hips into Steve's, and wrapped his leg around Steve's hip. The smile fell off Steve's mouth and he pressed down into Danny, kissing him firmly.

**/**


	5. Packing

**/**** Packing \\\\\**

The morning after Steve's birthday, Danny slipped out of the house while Steve and Grace were still in the ocean swimming for a last minute, early morning psych appointment.

Steve and Grace came up to the house later, later than normal without Danny to remind them to come in, and found the house empty.

"Go have a shower, Gracie," Steve said, looking for a note.

She nodded and happily headed out of the room. Steve heard the shower start as he found the note on the kitchen table between two cling-wrap covered bowls of muesli.

_Got a call, gone to psych appointment. Will shop on the way home. Back by lunch. Danno. _

Steve glared down at the note and thought about exactly what he was going to be saying to Danny when the other man got home. Then he stomped upstairs and took a shower. He knew Grace would be done but he took his time in their room getting dressed so that she did not have to see his annoyance. He did understand…no, he didn't, he had listened to Danny but he did not understand why Danny felt he had to keep Steve away. Especially by lying to him. The use of Grace on Wednesday had been bad enough but to lie to him, to them both, and leave in such a way made Steve wonder just what Danny was up to.

Finally, though he felt no better, he knew he could no longer hide in their room. He went downstairs expecting Grace to be eating breakfast in the kitchen, or more likely in the lounge room in front of the television.

Steve paused outside of Grace's room and frowned. "Gracie, what are you doing?"

Grace looked up at him and then down at the piles of clothes on her bed. "Packing."

Steve frowned. "Packing for what?"

"Our trip."

Steve smiled at her. "We're not leaving for over two weeks."

"I know," Grace said, slumping down on the bed between her bathers and jumpers. "But, Nana, Pop, and Great-Nana are going to be here on Thursday and then we will be focussed on the wedding and I don't want to pack the wrong things."

Steve walked into the room. He pulled the chair out from her table and sat down. "Okay, what are you thinking of taking?"

"I'm not sure. I looked at the weather in New Zealand but I don't know what I need to take. Do you know it snows there as well?"

Steve nodded. "We are going to be visiting a lot of different places. We're going to visit the glacier and the mountains so we need a bit of everything."

Grace smiled at him. "So I should pack everything?"

Steve shook his head. "Maybe we should wait until Danno comes home."

"It's going to okay, Uncle Steve."

Steve laughed. "You haven't called me that in a while."

Grace shrugged. "You're going to marry Danno; it's weird if I call you uncle."

"Said who?"

Grace looked away. "James."

"Who is James?"

Grace coloured. "No one."

Steve filed that away to tell Danny later. "Gracie, there is nothing wrong with you still calling me Uncle Steve."

"Okay," Grace walked over and put her hands on Steve's shoulders. "Daddy's going to be fine."

"I'm just…nothing."

Grace threw her arms around Steve. "I know you're worried about him but what he's doing is good."

"I know."

"And he is better."

Steve had to admit that Danny had been more calm over the last two weeks and he no longer left the appointments looking so wrung out. Or at least he never came home or returned to work that way – not that Steve had managed to be at the appointments to support Danny like he wanted to be.

"I just want to help," Steve admitted grudgingly.

"You do," Grace said, shaking her head at him. "Daddy wasn't happy when he moved to Hawaii. He was so sad whenever I would see him even though he'd pretend to be happy."

"He's always happy when he sees you," Steve argued.

"But he wasn't _happy_ and we didn't see each other as much as we do now. I know he wasn't happy and I hated it."

Steve pulled Grace into a hug.

"But then you came to Hawaii," she said into his shoulder before pulling back to look him in the eye, "and he started to sound happy when I talked to him on the phone and when he'd come and pick me up I knew he wasn't sad anymore. I was really glad when you and he started dating because I knew you'd look after him."

Steve flushed.

Grace smiled at him. "You do help."

Steve nodded. "He'll always be your Danno."

"I know," Grace said, smiling at him widely. "And now we get to share him. I'm still okay with a little sister though."

Steve laughed and Grace looked incredibly pleased with herself as she turned to look at her bed.

"You're right, Uncle Steve, let's leave this until Danno gets home."

"Breakfast?" Steve suggested. "Danno left us two bowls of muesli."

"Wonderful, I'm starving," Grace said, yanking on Steve's hand. "I got Dad to tape this great show about sea animals. You can watch it with me."

Steve nodded and happily followed Grace downstairs and into the lounge room. The show had just finished when the front door opened.

"Hey," Danny said, walking in with shopping. "Monkey, can you help?"

"Sure, Danno," she said, bounding up and out of the door.

Steve stood as well and took the bags from Danny.

"Babe?" Danny asked, looking at Steve who wasn't looking directly at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a psych appointment this morning?"

"I didn't know until she called me."

Steve shook his head.

"Babe," Danny said, pushing Steve into the kitchen. "I told the psych that if she had extra sessions I was happy to come in, remember?" Steve nodded. "She called this morning."

"You didn't come down and tell us."

"You were out to sea snorkelling, babe, and I knew you'd want to come back and go with me."

"Which you don't want me to do."

Danny rubbed a hand down his face as Grace walked in with shopping, put it on the table, and then turned for the door to get more.

Steve frowned. "Why have we got so much shopping?"

"My family's coming."

Steve smiled. "Not until Thursday."

"Yes, and now I just need to buy fresh stuff."

Steve shook his head. "They aren't staying here…even though we offered, so surely we can't need this much food."

"Yes, but they are never going to actually leave unless they are sleeping or sightseeing."

"Oh," Steve said, frowning at Danny fiercely.

"Listen, babe, I've got another appointment on Wednesday morning, early, and then I'm taking a break while we're doing the wedding and the honeymoon and everything. So, you can drive me, if it will really make you feel better, which I do not understand at all, by the way, why on earth would you, or any sensible person, want to sit outside of my psych office for an hour."

"Because I'm here for you."

Danny shook his head. "You don't have to be waiting in the car for me to know you're here for me. I know, and you know so you could do something better instead."

Steve folded his arms across his chest as Grace carried in more shopping and then turned around again.

"Okay, okay, okay," Danny said, throwing his hands up. "Come and sit outside the office for an hour on Wednesday morning."

"Thank you," Steve said, turning around and walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to help Grace."

"Nutjob," Danny muttered to himself as he started unpacking the shopping. "Who on Earth wants to sit in a car alone for an hour waiting outside an office? Completely insane."

"Danno?" Grace asked, causing him to spin around and look at her.

"Yeah, Monkey?"

"I think Steve is worried about you."

"I know."

"But I don't think you realise how much he needs to help. It's like when we go snorkelling and even though he knows I've checked everything just like he taught me he still checks."

Danny nodded slowly and stared down at his daughter.

"And can we have tacos for dinner?"

"Sure…" Danny said, watching her as she smiled and started putting the vegetables into the fridge. "You're pretty smart," he said finally.

Grace smiled. "Thanks, Danno."

"Okay, okay," Danny said, pulling out the bits they would need to make tacos and putting everything else on the table for Grace.

"Are you sure your family is going to be here all the time?" Steve asked, coming back into the kitchen.

"Yep."

"Of course they will, Uncle Steve," Grace said happily, her smile widening when Steve smiled at her.

"We can ask them not to," Danny offered, watching the look on Steve's face. "If you'd prefer."

"No, no, it's fine," Steve said.

"It's really not a problem," Danny said. "We'll just go and see them at Ma's hotel instead. She's always happy to be the centre of activity."

"But," Grace said, "they have to come here."

"Gracie," Danny said, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "We have to ask Steve about that. I hadn't even thought about it."

Steve shook his head. "It's fine. Gracie, do you want to tell Danny about what we were talking about?"

Danny resolved to talk to Steve about it when Grace was otherwise occupied and turned to look at his daughter.

"I was trying to work out what to pack for the trip."

Danny nodded; always pleasantly reassured when Grace was thoughtful like this.

"We should probably all think about that," Danny said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "As soon as we've finished putting everything away we'll sit down with the itinerary and work out exactly what we're going to need. We might need to buy some things as well."

"See, Uncle Steve, I knew it was late," Grace said, turning to look at him.

"I'm not used to having much time to pack," Steve said with a shrug.

"That's what happens when you're in the army," Danny said, turning back to the shopping.

"Navy," Steve reminded him, exasperation clear in his voice.

Danny smiled and continued unpacking. When they were done Danny sent Grace off to find paper and pen and Steve the itinerary while he set to making some lunch for himself.

"Danny," Steve said, stepped close while Danny was flipping the toasted cheese sandwiches in the frying pan.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I really am happy with your parents and family being here. I just wasn't expecting it."

"I'm sorry, I should have thought to tell you."

Steve waved him off. "Never mind."

"Babe," Danny said, looking over Steve's shoulder to make sure Grace was still out of the room. "You will tell me if they're too much, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Grace bounced back into the room and over toasted cheese sandwiches, because snorkelling was very hungry work, they planned out the clothes they would all need for their trip.

**/**


	6. Music

**/**** Music \\\\\**

Danny walked out of the psych's office and down towards the car where Steve was silently writing in a notebook that looked like one of Grace's. Danny opened the door and Steve startled, closing the notebook, and looked up at Danny.

"Babe," Danny said, sliding into the car.

Steve smiled and tucked the notebook behind his back. "How was it?"

"It wasn't that pleasant honestly," Danny said, smiling at Steve gently.

Steve face immediately hardened. "Why?"

"Last couple of sessions, right, we've just been talking about ways of dealing with anger, you know, all that stuff that everyone knows. And it's not been hard it's just been a refresher and a reminder. It's been me, and her, working out what I need to do next time I get angry like that, okay."

"Let me deal with them," Steve offered.

Danny shook his head. "No, that is not the right answer."

Steve shrugged. "And this time?"

"We talked about what happened with Beckett."

Steve nodded, his face settling into the closed-off expression Danny recognised meant he had no idea how he was actually supposed to react.

"It was hard to rehash it all," Danny admitted, relaxing back into the car seat. "I know I have to, I mean, I understand, okay, I understand that half of the point of all of this is to go over what happened and working out what I should have done differently but it doesn't make it all any easier, you know?"

Steve continued nodding with the same expression and Danny had to bite back his desire to laugh at Steve trying to be supportive.

"It's not something I'm ever going to stop regretting," Danny explained, thinking back to what he'd said to his psych. "And I just wish I could forget it happened, okay? But, I know I need to remember so it doesn't happen again."

Steve looked vaguely like he was holding his breath and then he opened his mouth and closed it like a goldfish.

"And now, I want to go to work and work out how they got those drugs onto the island before my family arrives in the morning."

Steve nodded and turned to the steering wheel. He looked much more sure of himself now that he had something to focus on that he could actually do something about. Once they were driving Danny starting talking again.

"She wanted to go through the whole case and discuss why I made the decisions I made and then we talked about the _real_ reason that I did what I did and how my anger affected my decisions."

Steve wriggled his shoulder and Danny could almost see him psyching himself into talking.

"The idea is that if I know why it happened and how then I should be able to read the signs and not do it again."

"And I can help," Steve offered.

"Yeah, though I do hope you mean reminding me why I don't want to do something like that again and risk losing my job and Grace."

Steve looked at Danny and glared. "What?"

"If I'd lost my job for beating a guy at work I would have no chance of upping our time with Grace – I would have probably lost most of my custody and Rachel would have taken her to Vegas."

"She…" Steve looked back at the road and Danny watched the muscles in Steve's jaw twitch. Danny realised, with surprising clarity, that Steve hadn't realised that that was what had terrified Danny the most. He probably hadn't even realised it was a possibility because Danny had never talked about it.

"I was scared," Danny admitted, looking at the way Steve's hands gripped the steering wheel. "What I did was wrong. It's not okay to assault another person – not even to get the information and save a little girl. But I could have moved on and pushed it out of my mind except with startling, terrifying, clarity I realised for a few minutes of viciously, vindictive self-satisfaction, I could have lost one of the two people that are more important to me than anything else. If I lost the job it wouldn't have been the end of the world – I would have worked it out…we…we would have worked it out but I could have lost my time with Grace and what on earth would I have done then."

Steve indicated suddenly and pulled off to the side of the road. He threw the park brake on and grabbed Danny's shoulders to pull him across the console. Steve wrapped his arms around Danny and held him tight.

"I didn't know," Steve said, breathing into the skin of Danny's neck.

"I don't think I even wanted to talk about it," Danny admitted. "It was terrifying."

"Babe," Steve said, pulling back and kissing Danny. "Okay, I'm completely on board – I will remind you of this next time anything like that happens and we will do it all differently."

Danny smiled weakly. "Thank you, and thank you for coming today."

Steve smiled gently. "I knew you needed me to come."

Danny smiled and kissed Steve. "Come on, we need to get back to work."

Steve yanked him into another hug and then let go and turned back to the steering wheel. "I'm never letting you lose her."

Danny looked at Steve and couldn't resist smiling. "I love you, and I'm really damn pleased that I'm marrying you in less than two weeks."

Steve turned and grinned at him before he drove them back onto the road.

"Now," Danny said, looking at the edge of the pink notebook poking out from behind Steve's back. "What were you writing in the notebook?"

"Kamekona asked me a good question."

"He cannot officiate at the wedding."

"I know," Steve agreed. "Nigel is going to be wonderful."

"I'm sure he will."

"He's a great guy."

"He's an ex-Navy SEAL who once saved your life and is happy to come to Hawaii and officiate at our wedding so I like him already."

Steve smiled. "He's also an amazing poker player."

Danny laughed. "We'll have to have a game at the buck's night on Saturday."

Steve nodded. "Shame Gracie can't come."

"No, it's not. We are going to be drinking and I have a feeling Kono has ordered a stripper."

"Female or male?"

Danny shrugged. "I'd prefer neither. They just make me sad."

"Sad?"

"I'd prefer to watch you take your clothes off – or someone that I'm invested in – than a stranger who is being paid to do it."

"I'd prefer to watch you take your clothes off too. But you are not allowed to strip in front of my Navy mates."

"Deal. So, babe, what is in the notebook?"

"A list of songs," Steve said, pulling out the notebook behind his back and handing it to Danny. "We said we were just going to put our songs on a playlist but we haven't done it so I thought I'd start writing out my favourite songs."

"This is going to be terrible," Danny said, looking down at the closed notebook. "But, what does that have to do with Kamekona?"

"He wanted to know if we wanted him to come with his DJ equipment."

Danny frowned. "Why does Kamekona have DJ equipment?"

"He's a DJ."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Of course he is."

"I told him what we're doing."

"And?"

"He asked if we'd like him to bring his equipment along and we can play the music through it but we haven't worked out what music we are actually playing."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said I would talk to you about it."

"He would bring in one of those trucks that has speakers bigger than our house. We cannot let this get out of hand."

"What are we going to play them on?" Steve asked.

"Grace's speaker dock."

"It's pink."

"We need some pink at the wedding and she's wearing a red dress."

"We need some pink?"

Danny nodded. "Gracie loves pink."

Steve nodded. "Will the speaker be loud enough?"

"What are the lyrics to that new Taylor Swift song?"

Steve groaned. "Okay, it'll be loud enough."

"But how are we going to decide on the songs – it's well established that you and I do not agree on music."

Steve turned into the carpark of the Palace and Danny finally opened the notebook looking at the songs in the list. Steve turned and looked at him.

"Well?" Steve asked.

Danny groaned. "We are going to pick half each."

"What about Grace?"

Danny laughed. "I suppose I'll let her pick some of my songs."

"Then she can pick some of mine as well."

"No more than ten per cent," Danny offered. "That way there are only so many Taylor Swift or Five Seconds of Summer songs at our wedding."

"So we get forty per cent each and she gets twenty."

Danny made a face. "Is that too much?"

"No," Steve said. "I think it's perfect."

"Now, we need to decide on how many songs that is."

"We're getting married at two in the afternoon so we need to fill about nine hours."

"We're kicking them out at eleven?"

"Midnight," Steve said. "We can't have music until we've done all of the photos so I figure about three."

"Okay. Four minutes a song, fifteen songs an hour," Danny said, doing the maths in his head.

"Hundred and thirty five," Steve jumped in, swinging the door open and climbing out of the car.

"Right," Danny said, meeting him at the steps. "We'll pick up Grace and spend the night sorting out of lists."

Steve grabbed the notebook back. "I've already started."

"We have a case."

Steve smiled. "And I have a lunch break later."

Danny shook his head. "You're ridiculous."

Steve smiled at him and started jogging up the steps.

Danny watched the pink notebook bounce and started after Steve. "Don't think I didn't notice you were so bored sitting in the car and waiting for me that you went looking under the seats until you found that notebook."

Steve froze and turned around. "It was on the backseat."

"No," Danny said, shaking his head as he passed Steve, "it wasn't, because I collected the three sweaters that Grace had left in the car when I did the washing last night and the notebook wasn't there."

Danny heard Steve walking quickly up behind him. The taller man threw an arm over Danny's shoulders.

"Just admit it, babe."

Danny felt Steve shrug through the contact between their bodies.

"I'm still coming next time," Steve said, breaking away from Danny before they walked into the front door of headquarters.

Danny followed him in and nodded his acceptance.

**/**


End file.
